This Emily Dickinson poem reminds me of Langston Hughes‘ Dreams. There are direct and indirect metaphors to birds and a sense hope and dreams feed to lighten one’s spirit.
Being mindful of one’s dreams can give a person hope and something to look forward to. It is not to say we lose ourselves in our dreams, living in a fantasy. Our dreams nourish a hope essential to sustain our spirit and who we are becoming as a person.
Dreams call to us, even in challenging times. We share them with others and they bring hope, not to one person, but to a larger collective. Dreams and hope exist as questions, which we can reflect on alone and together.
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
Here is the Langston Hughes poem.
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
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About ivonprefontaine
In keeping with bell hooks and Noam Chomsky, I consider myself a public and dissident intellectual. Part of my work is to move beyond (transcend) institutional dogmas that bind me to defend freedom, raising my voice to be heard on behalf of those who seek equity and justice in all their forms.
I completed my PhD in Philosophy of Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA. My dissertation and research was how teachers experience becoming teachers and their role as leaders.
I focus on leading, communicating, and innovating in organizations. This includes mindfuful servant-leadership, World Cafe events, Appreciative Inquiry, and expressing one's self through creativity. I offer retreats, workshops, and presentations that can be tailored to your organzations specific needs.
I published peer reviewed articles about schools as learning organizations, currere as an ethical pursuit, and hope as an essential element of adult eductaion. I published three poems and am currently preparing my poetry to publish as an anthology of poetry.
I present on mindful leadership, servant leadership, schools as learning organizations, how teachers experience becoming teachers, assessement, and critical thinking. I facilitate mindfulness, hospitality retreats. and World Cafe Events using Appreciative Inquiry.
I am writing and researching about various forms of leadership, how teachers inform and form their identity as a particular teacher, schools as learning organizations, hope and its anticipatory relationship with the future, and hope as an essential element in learning.
ivonprefontaine
Teacher as Transformer 
I much prefer Emily Dickinson. The flow is so much better.
Hugs
Although the subject is similar, the style is different. Hugs back.
I am familiar with both these poems from my high school days! Good to be reintroduced 😉
Dreams are essential to living a life beyond the strains of the world. Wonderful post! ❤
That is so true. Thank you Olga.
A dear friend always said, “Hope is a tow rope.” Without it we are left adrift.
That is a wonderful thought.
Hope. Dreams. Sometimes the same thing.
They are intertwined.
The two are amazingly similar and I like both. Don’t believe I had ever heard either before. Thanks
You are welcome Marie.
I’m delighted by the number of things that were once thought of as mere fantasy that had become reality.
Without those dreams and hopes, there is nothing to aspire to.
I like both poems, but Langston Hughes’ poem talks to me more.
I enjoy Langston Hughes’ poetry. There is a simplicity in the wording and style that resonates.
This is one of my favorites of hers. Dreams and hopes – what else is there?
There would not be much without dreams and hopes.